Yeah, I know. Shut UP about it. I WROTE today. I wrote last week too. I plan to continue. Went to Toasted Cheese writing chat today. I KNOW. I was early, but they started late and I work on Sunday so I didn't get to do the last one. Did the first two, however.

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1. Use the following words: shine, believe, three, heart, laughing (10 min)
2. Write about something with a lock. (10 min)
3. Write about being under time pressure. (10 min)


The park was lovely. The sun was shining, but not hot enough to cause trouble for the picnickers. It skimmed across the surface of the duck pond, giving the normally murky water a golden shine. Three ducklings followed their mother out of the water onto the bank, searching for leftover bread a child had dropped a few minutes before. The trees swayed in a light breeze, their leaves laughing as the wind cooled the warmth of the sun.

Kathy didn’t believe in perfect days, but this one was close. She sat under one of the trees, watching the ducklings and listening to the laughter of the trees. A book sat close to hand, but she’d abandoned it to listen to the heart of the day. Instead, she simply sat and let her eyes skim across the park.

A child squealed in delight as she was pushed from behind and flew into the air, her short legs kicking wildly. The mother behind the girl smiled, but looked as if she’d rather be somewhere else. Kathy wondered what could be more important than the laughter of the girl in the swing.

To the side of them were three boys playing together on the plastic structure shaped like a boat. One was spinning a useless wheel, obviously the Captain. He barked orders to the other two who scurried to obey him. One went down the slide, the other down a copper pole. When they hit the ground, they began brandishing swords only they could see and attacking enemies they had created from the air.

Kathy smiled and reached for her book. Using the tiny silver key on its pink ribbon, she inserted the key into the heart-shaped lock and turned until she heard a satisfying click. She opened the bright pink cover and turned to her place, smoothing the faintly pink pages down so she could write.

She considered. Which would it be? The ducks? The sailors? The mother and child?

She took the path of least resistance and wrote about the laughing trees and the shining water. She tapped her red pen against her lips as she concentrated, trying to find the right phrase to use to describe the near-perfect day. She dropped in a quick note about the ducklings, then closed and locked the diary.

Smiling, she dropped it back down on the blanket.